Officials discuss election plans as Brexit deadlock sparks poll talk

21 January 2019

Theresa May proved in 2017 she was perfectly capable of ruling out an election until the moment when she called one. So when Whitehall mandarins discussed contingency plans for a snap poll this week, there was a sense of urgency to their talks. There is also a question of whether the Tories would let Mrs May lead the party into a snap election after her 2017 failure to win a majority and her announcement last month that she would not fight the next poll. Professor Tim Bale said: “It’s not a crazy idea, it’s a traditional port in the storm.”